


Happy 1st Birthday Axel

by Smul_shinya



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Birthday, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Gen, Halloween, M/M, Mentioned Aqua (Kingdom Hearts), Mentioned Terra (Kingdom Hearts), Post-Kingdom Hearts III, Twilight Town (Kingdom Hearts), kingdom hearts - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-30
Updated: 2019-10-30
Packaged: 2021-01-13 00:08:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21234857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smul_shinya/pseuds/Smul_shinya
Summary: This is a gift for my akuroku exchange~I kinda went with the idea that Roxas doesnt know how to integrate with real life and just wants to make Axel smile for ever and ever.





	Happy 1st Birthday Axel

Dear Sora,

It's been a few months since I came back… although, I guess I've been here all along, huh? I wish you were here…

Roxas sat back, groaning as he rubbed his face. Kairi had convinced him that writing these dumb letters would help him get over Sora's disappearance—that's what they decided to call his death.

It wasn't working.

But what was he supposed to say? Everyone else was re-completed—even Saix for hearts sake!—and they all had memories of life before the organization. Still, Roxas had none—no memories, no guide to this new life he had just been dumped into. True, he had Axel… just the thought of that hothead was enough to bring a smile to Roxas's icy expression. Except Axel had been happy lately. He'd made amends with Kairi and Namine, he'd found a job and even moved into a small studio apartment. He'd been getting drinks with Aqua, Terra, and Saix. He'd been living again, and Roxas, with all his dumb questions—who couldn't seem to keep anything memorized, was just a burden.

Or so he'd convinced himself as he stared at the eternal sunset icing the only town he's ever known. He couldn't even bring himself to tell his friends how hopeless he felt. Instead, he'd decided to write a letter to someone who didn't even exist! The anger made the blood in his veins thrum against his thin skin, making his head churn violently.

He groaned louder, flopping onto his back as he stared at the sun filtering through the hazy clouds. It was all so familiar—like nothing even changed.

The same clocktower, the same sunset, the same ice-cream. Was this what normal life felt like? Did Olette and Payner feel the same way as they ran around and got jobs? Jobs! He'd never even been to school! He could barely write! With an angry huff, he sat up, tearing the paper up and tossing it off the tower.  
After everything they'd gone through, he was still useless…

His Gummiphone buzzed, startling him out of his downward spiral. On the screen sat a too-close photo of Xion that made him snort out a laugh and answer.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Have you heard of something called a birthday?" Roxas knit his brows together, kicking his legs out as he surveyed the clouds for an answer. Sora had thought about birthdays before, and he'd had an un-birthday with Luxord back with Alice and the Mad Hatter, but somehow that didn't seem relevant.

"I've heard of it. Why?"

"Axel has one!" This was news to him. Eyes wide, he blinked curiously.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah! Namine was telling me that apparently everyone has a birthday! Even you and I!"

"Wait- No one told me I had a birthday!"

"We can discuss your birthday later! According to Isa—don't make that face; we're supposed to be nice to him, remember?"

"I'll be nice when the douche apologizes for what he said about you."

"So… Never?"

"You know me so well." Roxas grinned victoriously, listening to sounds of acceptance and annoyance from Xion's end.

"ACCORDING TO ISA, Axel's birthday is tomorrow." There was a long, tense pause, Roxas chewing on the inside of his cheek as he tried to think of an adequate response.

"… Okay?"

"We have to do something! According to Namine, every birthday needs three things! Cake, presents, and… What did she say again… Oh right! A clown! These are all essential parts of celebrating a birthday!" Roxas snorted softly, grinning more to himself as he imagined Axel in clown makeup—which wasn't too hard to picture considering he'd been playing around with face paint lately.

"Well the clown part is taken care of, we got Axel~" Xion snorted, lulling Roxas into the warm feeling of acceptance and belonging that he always got when he spoke to her. Her and Namine were the only other people on the planet—on any world!— that understood what it was like to have no past. To come from nothing. It was nice to know that she would not disappear again. No more missions, no more fights. No more Sora…

"Hey! Xion to Roxas!" Roxas blinked wildly, shaking himself out of his stupor.

"Ah, my bad. Just zoned out."

"Am I that boring? Honestly." Xion fake scolded him, her eyes a little more gentle with her ribbing.

"Why don't you and Nams work on the cake, I can buy him a present no problem."

"Sure, sure! Text me when you find something, I need to make sure you're not wasting more of your money-"

"Hey! Those arcade games are an investment!"

"You don't even know what an investment is!"

"Neither do you!" Roxas stuck his tongue out at the sky, laughing softly. "Later, Loser."

"Bye, Nerd!"  
~~~  
Birthday. According to the Heart.net, a birthday was the anniversary of the day on which a person was born, typically treated as an occasion for celebration and the giving of gifts.

Roxas strolled through twilight town, nose buried in his phone as he tried to do some quick research on this phenomenon. He'd thought about texting the gang but quickly remembered that they too, were normal.

Axel was normal.

Ever since he'd returned—since the battle had ended and everyone had attempted to try and return to normal—he'd been dealing with real life. Even now, the town was changing. The trees in the forest were beginning to turn from thick and full green to varying hues of golden and red, mixing together like the fires Axel used to set.  
Outside, every storefront and apartment building were fat orange pumpkins with odd little faces carved into them, and the entire town smelled like hot roasted coffee and damp leaves that piled together on the streets. It was different—something he'd never seen before and Roxas kinda liked it. Loved the little orange and green lights and fake cobwebs that were strung along the bushes. The whole town was preparing for this "Halloween" event, but Roxas hadn't really cared enough to learn what it was. Sure, he'd tagged along behind Axel when he went costume shopping and had gladly taken photos of Axel's failed clown makeup attempt. It was kinda funny, and he for sure loved the candy that seemed to crop up everywhere.

He was just starting to understand this new holiday, and now he had to contend with these magical "Birthdays" that everyone seemed to have.

Everyone except him.

Despite what Xion said, Roxas knew he was never born—the closest thing he had to a mother was Sora, and that thought was just… gross. So he couldn't have a birthday at all. He was just some freak.

He kicked a discarded stone, not really knowing where he was going as his thoughts wandered. It wasn't the fact that he didn't have a birthday — that wasn't what upset it.

It was the fact that Axel _did_.

Whenever he saw Axel, his heart started racing, thrumming against his ribs like some stupid song began to play inside his chest. Axel looked like the sun had fallen from the sky, his hair splayed out like rays of the light. And his eyes… they glittered like something he'd never seen before. The green glowed, lit by an inner fire.

… damn, he sounded just like Sora did when he talked about Riku…

Which was why it wasn't fair! It wasn't OK that Axel was normal, that he had a birthday and he had friends like stupid Saix. He had a life, parents—how was he supposed to compete with any of that when he was still Nobody.

"Hey! Rox!" That stupid voice shook him out of his thoughts. Annoying and deep and striking him straight through his core.

"A-Axel!" He whipped around, tripping over one of those stupid pumpkins only to be caught by one of Axel's strong arms, pulling him up.

"Whoa, Roxxy, what's gotten into you?" The man laughed, standing close enough that Roxas was sure he could feel his damn heart beating through his skin.  
He had meant to say something cool, to distract from his idiocy, and hopefully apologize to the poor crushed pumpkin. Instead…

"You have a birthday." Axel blinked, laughing in shock as he bobbed his head, gently stepping back, arms crossed across his chest as he titled his head to the side, freckles catching the fleeting rays of sunshine.

"I do. What about it?"

"You never told me," Roxas muttered, shoving his hands into his pockets as far they could go to hide their shaking. Axel cocked one of his bean brows, flashing that dumb half-smile of his that made Roxas's insides explode.

"Sorry, Roxstar. Never thought it was important. However, I do, in fact, have a birthday." Roxas felt his cheeks heating up, something that Axel definitely could not see, so he turned on his heel and began to walk towards the nearest shop. Too bad Axel was built like a tree. Although confused, Axel quickly fell into step with him, nose in the air as he hummed some forgotten tune. "Why you upset 'bout my birthday again?"

"You're supposed to celebrate them with friends, right?"

"Mhm?"

"Then… why didn't you tell me about it?" Roxas tried not to whine, but it still came out soft and reedy. Nothing could stop the look of concern that came Roxas's way from his best friend. The man took his arm, but when that failed to turn Roxas, the hot head pulled him aside from the hubbub of people who all seemed to be in the festive mood, drifting by with caramel apples and sticky sweet sodas. Even with his hand firmly on his shoulder, Roxas refused to meet Axel's eyes, instead of staring at the ordinary people.

"'Cuz it's just a stupid date. No big deal!" Axel's laugh was a little strained, ducking as he tried to capture the younger boy's attention. "Come on, Roxxy, what's going on?"

"It is a big deal! It signifies that you got older! You survived a whole entire year, why don't you wanna celebrate that!?" Axel blinked, not expecting the reaction as he withdrew his hands, crossing them again.

"I don't wanna make a big deal outta it-"

"You always make a big deal out of everything!"

"What's the point celebrating it now!" His sharp tone halted Roxas, the boy blinking in surprise. Axel rubbed his face, muttering into his palms before looking down at the blonde boy. "What's the point, Rox? I spent… what… a decade in the organization? Then two years running around tryin to get you back? I don't even know how old I am anymore! So I never mentioned it. I don't WANNA celebrate it. I've lost so much time… ain't really much to celebrate anyways."

Roxas… didn't really know what to say to that. Once again, he was faced with his own idiocy. He'd been alive for maybe a grand total of a year and some change. But Axel had a life before the organization that was gone now. His parents, his family, his friends… they were long gone. He had stupid Saix, but Saix was stupid and, therefore, didn't count as much aside from an annoyance. Why couldn't he keep his dumb thoughts to himself? Eyes averted once more, he scuffed his shoe against the brick flooring, avoiding those piercing green eyes until Axel finally relented and looked away.

"It's tomorrow, okay? October 30th, if you really wanna get technical—but I know numbers ain't ever been your thing. I probably shoulda taught you more than thirteen, but you never really needed more numbers than that…" The man mused to himself, turning his back on Roxas. When he turned back, he was faced with Roxas's red nose and even redder eyes as the boy tried not to cry. Axel could have melted then and there, but he didn't know what to do with tears.

But there was one SURE FIRE way to get Roxas to smile.

"Ah… Wait here, okay? I'll be right back!" Axel said, giving Roxas an awkward pat on the head before darting away—sweet, salty ice-cream on the brain.

The blonde could only blink.

He really was useless. He'd upset Axel, and they hadn't even spent five minutes together! The weight of his own patheticness weighed on him, but then he caught sight of something in the shop window.

That's right! He was supposed to be looking for a present! Present etiquette was a little beyond him, but he'd seen Terra give Aqua enough gifts to get the gist of it. If he couldn't make Axel smile, then maybe some small trinket could. He glanced off towards the ice-cream shop.  
He had enough time.

* * *

  
"Damn, sorry about the wait, Roxstar! For some reason, everyone was gettin' 'scream today." Axel called, jogging back with the sweet treats in hand, seeing the spiky blonde sitting on the steps.

He plopped down, sliding close as he offered the treat, but was beyond shocked when his closest friend handed him a brown paper bag back.

"What's this?" Axel asked, taking the bag curiously.

"According to the internet… you're supposed to get gifts on your birthday-"

"Rox, enough with the birthday nonsense—"

"Just look." Axel eyed him, then sighed, pulling out the newspaper-wrapped object. His spindly fingers slowly unraveled it—and then nearly unraveled himself.

"Rox…"

"Look, it's super cheap, so if you hate it, then whatever… but I thought you could make new memories. A-and these ones you won't lose." Roxas looked up through his lashes, smiling hesitantly as Axel examined the polaroid, letting out one of those broken-sob-laughs he did now that showed he really didn't know how to feel.  
And with a flash, the first photo was taken, of pouty Roxas and his red nose and eyes. Axel laughed from behind the camera, slowly lowering it as the picture was printed out.

"Thanks." He managed, eyes shining. "It's perfect."


End file.
